Twin Glaives
by Zelda-Fanatic121
Summary: An old story I've been editing to get back into writing. Set in the Twilight Princess timeline, but my story begins before the game and coincides with its plot right to the end, with some Majora's Mask elements tossed in. Story is told through Raneem, the last Gerudo girl, as she works with Ganondorf to Kill Princess Zelda and the Hero of Hyrule. Mature themes. Lots of Zelda lore.
1. Prologue

Prologue

* * *

His heavy footsteps echoed throughout the fortress, subtly signalling for his thieves to make way for their king. His people, the gorgeous Gerudo, loved and respected their ruler… all save for one, a girl who covered her distaste for her king under a thin veil of composure. She still bowed to him when he walked past, but while her head was dipped low, concealed by the shadow of his enormous frame, she would sneer. Her name was Raneem, and she was one of the youngest warriors amongst the Gerudo tribe. She had seen seventeen summers, though every season felt the same to her in the blistering heat of the great western desert.

Raneem kept her eyes respectfully lowered as the king passed by her side. He was close enough to smell; smoke, Gerudo chilli peppers, and old sweat. _He must have come from his chambers,_ Raneem thought to herself, her eyes following his cape as he turned a corner and disappeared. _No doubt Hana is making her way to the bathhouse, albeit yawning._ Hana was known to warm the king's bed whenever he could not sleep. She was one of his favourites, apparently. Raneem frowned. Not long after her thirteenth summer, she had begun to question the way her sisters viewed King Ganondorf. They held the utmost respect for him, as was to be expected of his people, but it went beyond that. On occasion Raneem had overheard her sisters gushing about the deep lilt of his voice, and the way his muscles glistened with sweat in the afternoon sun while he was sparring. Raneem was old enough to understand their interest in him physically, but as for anything excluding lust she had no idea what her sisters saw in their king. They would be thrilled to be summoned to his chambers and spend the night there; they felt great honour to carry his child… and Raneem couldn't comprehend why. The man was heinous.

Yet he was their king. His word was law in the western desert, and his wrath was death. He ruled his people as any general would command his army, and the Hylians were no allies of the Gerudo. Wars were often and petty, barely worth the title of war, but they had plagued the two races since the ages of darkness.

The feud extended to the heavens as well, if the pious type were to be believed. Supposedly the animosity between the Hylians and the Gerudo were a mark of fate; Din, the Goddess of Power, moulded the desert lands upon which the Gerudo tread. Farore and Nayru, the Goddesses of Courage and Wisdom respectively, created the lush, mountainous lands of Hyrule, from the snowy peaks to the deepest rivers. Din, Farore and Nayru were sisters, and sisters fight. Peppered throughout both Hylian and Gerudo religion, it is said that Din created the Gerudo in spite of her sisters Farore and Nayru. Henceforth, hostility between the races was inevitable.

Even so, Ganondorf, King of the Gerudo, was not a man to sit idle. The civil wars between the Hylians and the Gerudo were more often than not spurred on by the decisions made by the leader of the Gerudo, not some meek rivalry between sisters in the sky.

It was almost dawn. The last of the stars were quickly fading as pale morning light slowly seeped into the Gerudo Fortress. Raneem quickened her pace to her post, winding through the stone hallways as her sisters slept comfortably in their beds. She had the morning watch – she would stand for four hours with a spear in her hand, watching the eastern border and the distant hills of Hyrule. It was a post Raneem actually enjoyed, for she was able to watch the sun rise as well as beat the worst of the day's heat.

The sand shifted under the soles of her slippers as she claimed her post, Iman stifling a yawn as she passed her spear to Raneem. After a quick good-morning, Iman made her way back into the fortress, her night shift officially over. Raneem gripped the spear tighter as she straightened her back, her eyes to the east. She had chosen to wear red today; last night the sunset had been as crimson as blood, and the desert girl took that as an omen from Din.

Raneem knew deep down that it was only a matter of time until the Hylians had had enough of the proud desert dwellers. Ganondorf was always giving them cause to complain, and the Hylian Army had the Gerudo outnumbered ten to one.

Raneem released a deep breath, her eyes tracking the sun's ascent into the eastern sky. "Dawn of a new day," she murmured.


	2. 1: Following Fate

Chapter One

Following Fate

* * *

Smoke hovered all around her, clinging to the walls and the roof of the burning fortress. Like the heavy smoke, Raneem was locked in the confined space of her bedchamber. The girl had been right, it seemed, for a new type of war had sparked between the Hylians and the Gerudo – a war for the right to live.

They had come when the sky was darkest, well after Raneem had retired for the night. They came from the east, passed the border, killed those who were at their posts and spilled into the desert like an infestation. They brought their flag with them, the Hylian Army marching in formation, their size formidable but their going slow. Behind their lines of infantry came the things they called catapults. They used the great weapons to smash the fortress and break the Gerudos' scattered defences. The Hylians brought death and despair, just as Din had warned and just as Raneem had feared.

The Hylians had caught the Gerudo completely off-guard. By the time the surviving Gerudo scouts had spied the oncoming traffic, it was too late. The catapults the Hylians had brought with their army… they wreaked havoc on the walls of the Gerudo Fortress. It was only a matter of time until the desert children were left out in the open, the quarters they had lived in all their lives a smoking husk beside their feet.

Raneem's own bedchamber had suffered the same fate as so many others. She had been sleeping when she first heard the scouts sound the alarm. Heartbeats later, sorrow's anthem began to play. People were dying all around her and the fortress walls were exploding.

Catapult was a foreign word to Raneem. She had learned of its existence that very morning as she tried to escape her bedchamber. A huge boulder had torn through her walls and smashed her quarters to pieces. Her bed had been pinned against the eastern wall after a supporting beam snapped and came crashing down. Raneem didn't remember how she had gotten out of the way, all she remembered was the screaming.

The smoke made it hard to breathe, hard to see. Raneem bent low, avoiding as much of the ash and soot that surfaced and fell around her. She tried not to fall, for she knew that once she was down she'd never get back up.

Her head throbbed, the noise of the attack resounding against her skull. Screams of pain and disbelief and anger resounded all around her as she struggled to free herself from her chambers. The Hylians, Raneem thought to herself, her fists clenching. They did this. They did this to stop him. Raneem managed to free herself from her bedchamber, squeezing past the pile of stone that had been her wall, her belongings scattered and ruined. She sucked in a deep breath when she saw the fires, the source of all this dark smoke. The Hylians had used the catapults to break through the thick stone walls of the fortress – once they were down all it took was a few skilled bowmen and some fire arrows. The Gerudo Fortress was no stranger to flammable material; the sleeping quarters alone contained enough bedding and cloth to start a wild fire.

Someone bumped into Raneem's shoulder with enough force to spin her around. She caught sight of a young mother as she righted herself. She was cradling an infant in her arms and sprinting down the ruined corridors, stumbling a bit after her collision with Raneem. She didn't look back.

Raneem knew she had to get out of the fortress. It was only a matter of time before what remaining walls fell, and the thick smoke from all the fires would soon choke her if she did not hurry. She willed herself to press onwards, to get out of the crumbling fortress and fight the Hylians face to face on open ground. Her eyes opened, harbouring a new fire that lit up the gold of her irises. She sprinted to the nearest exit, through the east-wing corridor she'd travelled many a time to and from sparring lessons. She knew it like the back of her hand. Before reaching the exit, Raneem grabbed her sheathed glaives from their place on the shelf outside the sparring hall. She did this in one fluent movement, as graceful as a cat as she vaulted out the arched doorway.

The view outside was about as grim as it was inside the falling fortress. It stunk of death out here, and rightly so, as the Gerudo were dropping like flies. It took Raneem a moment to collect herself and draw her glaives. She turned to the first man who raised his sword in her direction. A pale, blonde man, she thought as she parried his blow with her twin blades, and not very good. Raneem's glaives arced high into the air and Hylian blood was spilled on Gerudo sand.

Raneem turned again, this time to her right. A pale man with a Hyrulean crest upon his uniform was hastily nocking an arrow, his hands shaking. Raneem ran toward him, shouting an old Gerudo war cry. By the time the man looked up he was already dead. Raneem glanced past her left shoulder and started to sprint to kill another man, but she recognised him and muscle-memory struck her suddenly. She fell to one knee in the sand before him.

"Get up, girl," King Ganondorf said in an urgent growl. "Don't you see your sisters dying? Get up!"

Raneem launched to her feet obediently, driven by years of practice. She kept her eyes low, out of lawful respect, but she did spy the great sword in Ganondorf's big hand. It was dripping with bright red blood. Raneem glanced up at her king's face.

"You're able to fight? Come with me, now." He looked across his shoulder for a second and then strode past Raneem, grabbing her wrist with his free hand. "Hurry up, girl. Do you want to die? They're slaughtering us!"

Raneem sped up, her head spinning. Ganondorf's strides were as long and strong as a stallion, and it was hard for Raneem to keep up. She looked back and what she saw spurred her feet to move faster in the opposite direction. They were going south, toward Hyrule.

The two Gerudos were panting, sprinting at a half-crouch along the south road, away from the conflict and screams. The sound of her sisters' wails pierced through Raneem's skull. The attack had happened so fast… it was as if one moment she was curled in her sleep, the next she was running for her life. The Hylian Army had struck like snakes in the dark and now they were slaughtering her people. Worst of all, Raneem knew there was nothing she could do.

It was inevitable which would be the last race standing and it was sickly unjust. Raneem was furious. Her heart was racing in her chest and she found herself speaking.

"If they wanted a fight, they should have met our blades in open battle! They're using stone beasts to hurl boulders at our walls and they're burning our home to the ground!"

Ganondorf didn't glance back at her. "They didn't want a fight, you fool, they wanted our extinction."


	3. 2: A Clash of Kings

Chapter Two

A Clash of Kings

* * *

Raneem's eyes were locked on him. The still desert air was beginning to give way to the winds of night, and the stink of his sweat was carrying over to her. She wrinkled her nose and turned back to her glaives. She hadn't had time to grab any other belongings after escaping the crumbling fortress and the Hylian foot soldiers, so she was without her whetstone. Now she was idle, her mind racing and her fingers fidgeting. Tears burned her eyes but she refused to let them fall. She bit down upon her lip until the sharp tang of blood filled her mouth. She found her gaze frequently returning to her king as he paced back and forth a few feet away, his face screwed up. "What are you doing?"

He halted his gait and turned to frown at her. "You don't feel it? Times are changing, but everything is happening for a reason." He paused, licked his lips, and continued. "Some call it fate and some call it destiny. _I_ call it prophecy." His eyes were narrowed, glaring at the ground. "We were doomed from the start," he muttered, turning his head away and spitting into the darkening sands. Night was well and truly upon the Gerudo Desert and it was swiftly getting colder.

Raneem put down her glaives, turning her body to face the king. "Where are we supposed to go?" Her voice cracked at the end. She swallowed hard against the growing lump in her throat. Without her whetstone, Raneem had been left alone to her thoughts. The sounds her sisters had made as they died terrible deaths were resonating in her skull. Angrily, she wiped her tears away with the back of her hand.

"We're going south, to Hyrule," he answered.

"Why are we going to Hyrule?" Raneem began to rise to her feet, her grief swiftly morphing into fury. "What is there for us in _Hyrule?_ Our home is here–"

"Our home _was_ here. _They_ destroyed it," Ganondorf growled. "Are you a fool? What have we got left in Gerudo Desert beside dead sisters and lost culture?"

Raneem took a shaky step closer to the king, her anger unfurling like a dragon's tail. "How can you leave them?" she shrieked, "They were your _people!"_

"I can see you're angry," he said dully. He wasn't at all threatened by her approach, then… but how could he be? He was a king, seven foot tall and proud. She was seventeen, a girl servant to her king.

"I _am_ angry," she snarled.

Ganondorf seemed to expect that answer. "Be more than angry, be furious. Get revenge, free your sisters' souls through Hylian blood. But make it the right blood. What are you called?"

"My name is Raneem," she muttered. Her eyes narrowed into slits. _What is he talking about?_

"Raneem," Ganondorf tested the name on his tongue. "Get revenge, Raneem. Use the fury you're feeling and channel it to the heart of Hyrule. Either condemn or crown your hatred. Come with me and kill the King of Hyrule."

* * *

Raneem slithered her way through the almost empty streets of Castle Town, using her peripheral vision to watch as the moon sank lower and lower behind the mountains. She was careful to check the corners before she continued her risky trek to the giant castle where the heart of Hyrule was sleeping soundly.

Raneem knew the plan; Ganondorf had explained it to her as they crossed the mountainous border between Gerudo Desert and Hyrule. And although she knew the plan, she couldn't help but feel like she was in it alone. He wasn't here, he had decided it would be best if the pair split and entered the castle at different times, meeting up inside later. She understood his plan for she had scouted many times during raids with her sisters. Thinking of them made her mind weak. She knew she had to focus on the mission at hand, though it was hard to push aside her grief and concentrate. _Kill the king and get revenge_ , she told herself over and over, as if that would stop the tears welling in her eyes and blurring her vision.

The night's breeze was warmer here in Hyrule and especially so in Castle Town. The Hylians had erected stone walls around their home, as if the mountainous borders built by the Goddesses weren't enough protection. The sound of footsteps crept across the empty streets and through the dark alleys. Raneem placed herself securely behind the large fountain in the town square, her keen ears listening for the walker. They were wearing heels or very high platforms. _Not a solider, then_ , Raneem thought.

She pressed her back firmly against the cold stone fountain, waiting for the sounds of the water to wash away the woman's retreat. Raneem caught the sight of the Hylian's heavy cloak hem as she left the town square and entered a southern alley.

Raneem felt out of place in the middle of the town square. The wind was starting to pick up. She pushed off the cold stone and moved through the passageway between the fountain and the Castle Gates, noiseless and unseen.

The moon was full and bright, guiding Raneem as she stole toward the looming castle. She saw it as a blessing from Din, such a cloudless night. Upon reaching the entrance to the huge castle, Raneem couldn't help but note the silence. Judging by the sky she could tell that it was deep into the night, an hour or two shy of dawn. Guards would be posted outside the castle entrance, no more than two at this hour. They would be bored and they would be drinking wine through an old skin. And they would definitely be conversing. But… silence. Only the wind spoke, and its language was foreign to the desert girl.

As Raneem got closer to the entrance, she realized why the guards had been so shy. Their blood pooled at their heels, their matching wounds glistening scarlet on their matching pale necks. It had been a good job, Raneem would admit. Clean across the throat with no signs of trauma. _So Ganondorf found a way inside, then…_

Once through the Castle Gates, Raneem was presented with a rather pleasant garden. At the centre of it all was a huge statue depicting the Triforce, albeit rather dully, as the statue was made from cold marble. In the courtyards of the Fortress, a similar statue had stood. It had been crafted by the finest smiths Gerudo Desert had to offer, and it shone like Din's Fire when the sunlight danced upon its back. _Our statue was made of gold, the Hylians' of marble. Their eyes are flat like the marble they use to depict the Triforce, and Gerudo eyes are gold like the Triforce itself! I will avenge my sisters. They should have died in battle, not murdered in their home._ Once again, Raneem had to blink back tears. Her fists clenched.

She found Hyrule Castle with its front door wide open. Ganondorf's work, no doubt. Raneem was still very wary around the man. He appeared to be genuinely interested in avenging his people, and, clearly, he was prepared to murder the King of Hyrule in the Gerudo name. Yet, when Raneem thought about it, the death of his people was ultimately his own fault. The wars between the Hylians and the Gerudo were undoubtedly etched in fate's weave, and perhaps Ganondorf had something to do with that...

The inside of Hyrule Castle was ornate and richly decorated with marble and stone. Raneem turned her head away in disgust and continued up the trailing steps. The King of Hyrule surely slept upstairs in the largest quarters available. She made her way upwards, her mind racing with thoughts of her sisters, her enemies, and her king.

While both the pious and the commoners believed it was destined that Hylians and Gerudo were to fight, Raneem saw it slightly differently. Perhaps Din had desired to birth a strong people who would fight in her honour, but perhaps fate's reach exceeded there, and the rest of the ongoing conflict between the races was a manmade cause.

Ganondorf was always authorizing raiding missions on Hyrule, and he never strayed far from antagonizing the Royal Family with political coldness and a threat always upon his lips. The Hylian Army's actions had been directed by the King of Hyrule, but perhaps it was only because he was fed up with the trouble Ganondorf was constantly causing, and he simply wanted a viable solution… even if that meant genocide. Raneem clenched her jaw. Whether the reasoning behind her sisters' deaths had subsequently made Ganondorf guilty, it didn't matter when he wasn't the one who ordered the attack. The King of Hyrule was to blame, and he was about to pay for his crimes.

Raneem focused on the task at hand, pushing aside her persistent thoughts. She crossed the corridor, following a crimson path. The thick carpet was too stark a colour for the white walls. Hylian décor, Raneem thought with a frown. Finally, she reached a large oaken door at the end of the hall. She hurried along, once again noting the open door and dead guards. He's inside, she thought, my king with their king.

She slipped through the door, closing it silently behind her. She saw Ganondorf immediately, standing by the great bed. Edging closer, prompted by Ganondorf's motioning hand, Raneem saw the King of Hyrule. He was sleeping, his thick white beard a tangle. "He's fat," she whispered into the darkness. His huge belly rose and fell as he snored.

Ganondorf grunted his agreement. "No true king should ever be unable to defend himself." His golden eyes seemed to be glowing…and so did his skin. Raneem took one step back, eyebrows raised.

Ganondorf raised his hands as a purple fog seeped through his fingertips, the smoky mass falling over the sleeping king. Raneem watched as the fat man breathed the smoke in, his snores never once faltering. It took only a minute or two, and then Ganondorf's magic began to take effect.

The fat man's belly rose and fell, rose and fell, but then he coughed. His eyes opened, wide and blue and terrified. He coughed, though hardly a sound came out. He tried to cough again but this time it was just a wheeze. Through his thick beard and fat neck, Raneem could see the muscles in his throat tightening. It was as if a ghost were choking the air out of his lungs, when in reality it was Ganondorf's purple magic doing the damage on the inside.

As the king's face turned blue and his eyes rolled back in his head, Ganondorf smiled. Raneem felt the air stir beside her as Ganondorf unsheathed a dagger from his hip. There was a flash of silver, and then crimson. The King of Hyrule was already dead when the steel bit his throat, but his pretty blood splattered across his pretty bed all the same. Raneem took a step back and wiped her cheek. It came back red and sticky. "Why did you do that? He was already dead."

"Yes," Ganondorf agreed in a soft murmur, his eyes on the dead king. "But when the Hylians find him in the morning, there'll be no mistaking it was murder. If we had just left him there with no wound, the guards would have assumed the fat beast died in his sleep."

He grabbed her wrist and drew her closer to the bed so she could see the dagger embedded in the dead man's neck. The handle was sandstone, the hilt dominated by a bright garnet. On the flat side of the blade, Gerudo calligraphy had been finely smithed across the length of the weapon. _King Ganondorf_ , it read. Surely some Hylian scholar could translate the message to Princess Zelda on the morrow.

Ganondorf took one last look at the King of Hyrule and then strode back to the door. Raneem followed, her memory drinking in the death of her enemy. It had been invigorating to watch him not only die, but suffer, too. Raneem had seen Ganondorf's magic at work before, when he would publicly execute Hylians captured past the border and in the desert. The leader of the Gerudo often liked to boast that he could control his magic with more precision than any swordsman, for all he had to do was think a command and the magic would obey. He said he could make his victims suffer slowly, or make their death so fast their soul would die with them, unable to transcend to the afterlife. "The ultimate punishment," he would call it.

"You made him wish he was dead before he even knew he was dying, didn't you?" Raneem asked in the darkness of the south corridor. She didn't know where Ganondorf was leading her. All she knew was that the King of Hyrule was dead and an ominous message had been sent to his people.

"I gave him the end he deserved," Ganondorf answered. He paused, checked a corridor and then deemed it safe, striding down it as if he knew exactly where he was going.

Raneem trailed behind. "Did it feel like justice?"

Ganondorf's big hand rested on the door in front of them. He turned to her before pushing it open. "The Hylians will know their genocidal plan failed. We are Gerudo and we do not forget. We will destroy all that they know and love." His eyes shone in the dark room as he closed the door behind them. "It felt like justice, yes. But it was my own justice. I avenged my sisters by killing the King of Hyrule. You have yet to avenge your sisters yourself."

Raneem stopped walking, pulling her arm free from his grasp. "I will avenge them," she growled.

Ganondorf strode down the corridor, toward the grand staircase that led to the entry of the castle. Raneem followed behind, keeping her distance.

Once at the door, Ganondorf looked down at her face. "That," he murmured, "remains to be seen."


	4. 3: The Beginning

Chapter Three

The Beginning

* * *

It was dawn when the King of Hyrule was discovered and Raneem and Ganondorf had a front row seat to watch the affair. It had all started when a young squire timidly entered the room to wake the king. The boy had screamed when he saw the dead body, had vomited when the smell reached him. And then he had raced out of the room. Seconds later, several guards rushed in as well a Hylian healer.

Raneem reclined on her elbows and watched through Ganondorf's magical screen as the men panicked, the healer fumbling through his potions and herbs but there was nothing he could do. Within the hour, the king's body had been moved to the lower sections of the castle to be prepared for burial. Raneem had smiled wickedly when the Hylians had found the Gerudo dagger embedded in their king's throat, and Ganondorf had actually chuckled.

When the king's bedchamber was empty, the magical screen slowly dispersed. "Show's over," Ganondorf said as he stood and stretched.

Raneem got to her feet as well. "What happens now?"

"Princess Zelda will be alerted. She'll be briefed on the death of her father, and as his only heir she will be expected to take over his kingdom."

Raneem looked past her king and into the distance, staring at the lush green surroundings. After escaping Castle Town, Ganondorf had led Raneem through the winding roads of Hyrule Field and to a secluded look-out post, situated to the east of the grand castle the Gerudos had just escaped from. Hyrule definitely looked different from Gerudo Valley… just thinking about home made Raneem's head swim. She closed her eyes for a moment and tried to concentrate on Ganondorf's deep voice as he began to speak.

"We're going back to the desert. We did what we needed to do in Hyrule; the king has been killed and the little Princess Zelda has no idea how to run a kingdom. It is only a matter of time before this wretched land and all its people are consumed by darkness."

Raneem frowned. "What do you mean? You left your dagger in their king's throat – you declared war on their people! You're going to leave it up to 'darkness' to finish the job?"

Ganondorf sneered. Raneem knew that under any other circumstance, had she talked to him with such aggression, she would have been sent out into the desert wastelands to die with nothing but her fresh whip-wounds on her back.

The Gerudo King glared down at the small girl. "I don't expect _you_ to feel the shift in fate's pathway." His right hand shot out, and Raneem flinched, waiting for the blow of his backhand. But the pain didn't come. Hesitantly, she opened her eyes.

Ganondorf's fist was clenched in front of her face, but he was not intending to strike her. Instead, he removed his leather gloves so the back of his hand was revealed. The shape of a Triforce gleamed in the early morning's twilight, and Raneem recognised it immediately. Ganondorf had been blessed by Din; he bore the Triforce of Power, and all the power that it granted its wielder. Although King Ganondorf knew Gerudo magic, a lot of his spells and magic stemmed from the power of his Triforce piece. Raneem bowed to the man, not because he was her king and she was his people, but because he bore the gift of the Gods.

"The power that I wield is mightier than Hyrule, and the child-princess who will soon rule this nation has no defence for what is coming for her and her people." His golden eyes burned into Raneem and she had to look away. "Darkness is coming to Hyrule. And you, desert girl, are inextricably linked to its destructive path." He grinned widely, his Triforce piece glowing brighter than before. "We _both_ are."

* * *

The Gerudo Desert welcomed its people with searing heat and not a breath of wind. Raneem inhaled deeply, her eyes slipping shut. Thoughts of her sisters came easily, here in this place, and the last Gerudo girl had to blink back tears as she fought with her memories.

Ganondorf's magic had transported them to a hidden oasis, known only to the Gerudo. It was far away from where the fortress had once stood, but Raneem longed for those halls again. She knew they were gone, though, torn down by Hylian catapults and burned to ashes.

She was alone for now. Deep in the oasis, hidden from view, she let her tears fall. They came and came, dampening the material of her collar. She sobbed, then choked back the sound and cried even harder, her head shaking as she fought to restrain herself from screaming. Her nails dug into her palm and drew blood but even that was not even to pull her from her grief.

An hour later Raneem had no more tears to cry, and just as well because Ganondorf had returned with his kill. She moved further into the oasis and drank deeply from the waterhole. When she was finished, she feasted on the thigh of a boar Ganondorf passed her. The desert had an abundance of food if you knew where to look. For anything else, there were always stray boar wandering around, left here when the Hylians had built the cursed Arbiter's Grounds. It was said there was a chamber on its top floor, with a mirror that could take you to another dimension, the Twilight Realm.

It was through this mirror that the Hylians had banished criminals they were too weak to handle themselves, and the Gerudo people had always hated that the Hylians had built this waste bin in the middle of their desert. It was eons ago when Arbiter's Grounds was being built, and Hylians had walked through the desert as if it was theirs. It was during a period of time where no male Gerudo had ruled as king, as the birth of a male only occurred once every hundred years. By tradition, his name was to be Ganondorf and he was to rule the Gerudo. _If_ Arbiter's Grounds had been erected while Ganondorf was acting king, she knew things would have happened differently. But, alas, he had no power at the time, and neither did she, for the two of them had yet to be born.

And so the foreboding grounds stood to the north of the desert, and since the Hylian Army's attack it was one of the last remaining buildings in the desert. The Fortress had been completely ruined, the walls and roofs collapsed and the treasures within lost. All it was now was a graveyard, and Ganondorf told Raneem the Hylians would clean up what was left in no time. "It will be as if we never existed," he had told her.

And she believed him.


	5. 4: Innoncence and Small Talk

Chapter Four

Innocence and Small Talk

* * *

The night sky was cloudless, as it always was in Gerudo Desert. Raneem sat amongst the trees that lined the hidden oasis she and her king had used as a hideout for… how long had it been? The girl had to stop and think, her eyes lowering from the eastern horizon. _One week, perhaps?_

King Ganondorf had ordered her to the easternmost edge of the oasis three days ago, assigned to keep watch for any passing traffic, be it game or man. Ganondorf had left the obvious unspoken – watch for Hylians, not just soldiers and scout parties, but Hylian scholars and priests, as well.

The Hylians had been frequenting the desert as of late, as was to be expected after the discovery of Ganondorf's dagger in their fat king's throat. A score of twenty soldiers had arrived in the western desert one day after Raneem and Ganondorf had situated themselves within the oasis. Raneem was always tracking their movement.

The soldiers came and went, finding nothing left of the fortress Raneem had lived her entire life in. It was plain to see the Gerudo culture had been wiped away from this great desert. All that remained now was the Arbiter's Grounds. It was deeply sad to Raneem, but her grief always turned to hatred when it came to the Hylians.

The wretched race had been in their desert for far too long. After the score of soldiers left – they couldn't have lasted more than two nights – the frail scholars and priests arrived, riding on a wooden palanquin. It was nothing grand, not like the ones King Ganondorf had used before the Hylians' attack. The pale old men were like to drop dead had their modest palanquin not protected them from the sun. The days were unforgivably hot in Gerudo Desert, and these foolish Hylians had decided to cross the desert throughout the middle of the day, when the sun was the most relentless.

When Raneem had first reported the palanquin to Ganondorf, he was very interested in the scholars and priests. He seemed to know what they were up to, correctly predicting that they would travel to the Arbiter's Grounds before returning shortly thereafter to Hyrule. When Ganondorf had given the orders to let them pass unmolested, Raneem had been confused and angry. These Hylians were in _their_ desert, travelling through the sand at a snail's pace, completely vulnerable in their wooden palanquin and small host of foot-soldiers. They were acting as if there was nothing to fear in the desert, as if they owned it… but then the grim realisation washed over Raneem, and once again she had to blink back tears.

When Raneem had asked Ganondorf why he was letting not only the palanquin but also the soldiers pass through their desert untouched, the king had mumbled something about prophecy, about darkness coming to Hyrule. He would say nothing more on the matter, and Raneem was left with her troubling thoughts. All the girl knew for sure was that this prophecy Ganondorf spoke of had something to do with the Arbiter's Grounds, perhaps even the Mirror of Twilight.

It had been four days since the palanquin left the desert, but more and more scouting parties arrived, their uniforms bearing the Hyrulean crest, marking them as soldiers of the Hylian Army. It didn't take them long to pack up their crude camps and return to the friendlier climate of Hyrule… but the next day, a new group would arrive. They mainly prowled around the Arbiter's Grounds, but they were also known to linger in the sands where the fortress had once stood. Clearly, they were searching for Ganondorf, no doubt under the orders of Princess Zelda to bring the man to justice. So far, though, the Hylians had made no such progress. The oasis was well hidden from these foolish Hylians; one had to know the lay of the desert to find it, and these Hylians were invading foreigners, as clueless as they were cruel. The smell of their cook fires often wafted over to Raneem's hiding spot, to her great dismay. The smoke carried with it the scent of roast fowl. Of course the Hylians had brought their own provisions – they did not have the knowledge to hunt and gather food in this environment. And they weren't like to bring down a boar, either. The ferocious beasts would overwhelm them, Raneem had no doubt.

Tonight marked the seventh day since the palanquin returned to Hyrule. Raneem shifted, lowering to the sand from a low crouch. She sat down heavily, her weariness a weight upon her shoulders. Early this morning, as Raneem and her king were breaking their fast, Ganondorf had told her that they were leaving the desert. They were to return to Hyrule.

Raneem had been furious; her anger had burned through her so quickly she forgot her place and spoke to her king with an unguarded tongue. "Why would we go back there?" She demanded. "And why are you letting their soldiers and their old stinking men travel through our desert as if they have nothing to fear?"

As Raneem sat amongst the tree line, her eyes once again returned to the eastern horizon. She recalled the memory easily, Ganondorf's response echoing in her head as if he'd just spoken to her. "You are not here to question me, girl. Our fortress may be gone, and your sisters dead, but I am still your king."

Ganondorf's eyes had been terrifying. Perhaps it was merely the early morning sun shining into his face as he broke his fast, but the gold of his irises smouldered like lava. Raneem remembered taking a step back from her king, frightened by his intensity.

For a long time Raneem had uttered no response and the lingering silence deepened. Ganondorf had just turned to leave her alone by the camp fire when she spoke. "If I'm not supposed to ask questions, what _am_ I here to do?" Raneem's fists had clenched, her anger bubbling past her apprehension. "What are your orders, my king?" She dipped into a low, mocking bow.

All of a sudden he had been right in her face, closing the distance between their bodies in three long strides. He had grabbed her by the chin, pulling her head back until she looked at his eyes. "You are here to serve me, _girl,"_ he had emphasised the word, his voice a low growl, and a shiver had slid down Raneem's spine, despite the morning's pressing heat.

Raneem frowned at the memory, her eyes still to the east of the great desert. It had to be nearing midnight. The desert was freezing at night, and whenever there was a gust of wind it felt like the bite of a knife. Raneem was still wearing the clothes she had escaped the fortress in – a crimson sirwal with matching midriff. During the day Raneem's attire suited the harsh heat of the Gerudo Desert sufficiently, but at night it was her bane. If there was one good thing about returning to Hyrule, it was the climate. On every other basis for leaving the desert, however, Raneem disagreed with her king profusely, though she had no choice but to keep the opinion to herself.

She got to her feet as the moon reached the apex of the sky. Her shift was over and she could finally get some rest. She swiftly made her way to the camp fire Ganondorf still had burning. Her bedding consisted of nothing but sand and Ganondorf's cape as a blanket. When he had thrown it over her the first night they made camp in the oasis, Raneem had begrudgingly accepted. It had Ganondorf's scent on it, which at times could be overpowering.

When she arrived at the camp site, Ganondorf was nowhere to be found. _Out late again, no doubt hunting or skulking around the Arbiter's Grounds,_ Raneem thought to herself as she sprawled on her back in the sand. Although the wind was piercing, the sand still held the day's heat, and it warmed Raneem's back as she nestled deeper into it. Ganondorf's cape was pulled to her chin against the insistent wind. She fell asleep quickly, her dreams laced with the scent of him.

It felt like two seconds had passed before Raneem was awake again. Ganondorf towered above her, prodding her shoulder with the toe of his boot. "Come with me," was all he said before he turned and walked away.

Raneem rubbed at her eyes, her mind slow and groggy with sleep. She rose slowly, noting the darkness of the hour. The sun had yet to rise, surely Ganondorf didn't intend on travelling to Hyrule _now?_

Yawning, Raneem followed Ganondorf's foot prints in the sand. The sky was bright with stars that lit the way to the body of water within the oasis. Raneem slowed her walk, confusion slipping past the sleepy fog in her mind. _Why is he leading me to the water?_

"Girl, would you hurry up?" Ganondorf's voice pierced the night air, making Raneem flinch. She turned to her right and her eyes found him immediately. He was already in the water, naked and glistening. Raneem halted completely. She stared at him, fully awake now. Her heart began to pump harder and harder against her ribs.

From the light of the moon and the stars, Raneem saw Ganondorf frown at her. "Are you deaf? Come here. That's an order."

Raneem had killed many Hylians in her seventeen years, all of them male. She had learned to spar as soon as she was able to hold a sword and stand upright; she had killed her first man before she was ten. She was in no way removed from the harshness of life, yet the girl still maintained a touch of innocence. Living in the fortress, Raneem had known she could be summoned to Ganondorf's chambers at any time, but it was never at the forefront of her mind as her king seemed to prefer the older sisters, those who had seen at least twenty summers. Now, though… Raneem hadn't even had the chance to stop and think about it, but she and Ganondorf were the last Gerudos left. Her stomach dropped. It was her duty now more than ever to sate her king's desires, to bear him children and keep the Gerudo people from extinction. The realisation thrummed inside her skull until her head began to ache. Ganondorf was still impatiently awaiting her response. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves.

"We have a long day of travel tomorrow," Raneem began in a soft voice, her eyes on her feet. _Don't let him sense your fear or it will be your undoing._ "Before the Hylians attacked the fortress, you had never spoken to me, never even noticed me. This… this is the first time you have asked this of me, my king, and as I said, we have to travel leagues tomorrow. I don't want to be slowed down by any… physical discomforts attained on this night." Raneem slowly looked up, after the silence had stretched longer than she expected.

Ganondorf had a quizzical expression on his face. _Is this the first time he has been refused?_ Raneem wondered dumbly. _Of course it is! He has been a king all his life, the only male amongst a tribe of beautiful women._ The thought only served to increase Raneem's fear. _What if he takes me by force?_ _I am powerless to stop him._

"How old are you?" Ganondorf suddenly asked.

Raneem hesitated before answering. "I'm fifteen," she lied.

Ganondorf surprised her by laughing, the noise contrastingly loud in the still desert night. He climbed out of the water, making no move to cover his nakedness. Raneem's eyes once again dropped to her feet, albeit too slow. The sight of his muscled, formidable body sent a new wave of unease through the girl. _It's only a matter of time,_ she thought, _he will have me whenever he chooses, it may even be tonight._

As Ganondorf approached, Raneem stiffened, poised on the balls of her feet, instinct readying her body to flee. She swallowed hard, resisting the urge.

"You are not fifteen," her king said, his jaw clenched. He grabbed Raneem by the chin, studying her face as she held her breath. "I will ask you one more time. How old are you?"

"In a moon's turn I'll be sixteen. I swear, I –"

Ganondorf's arm shot out, the back of his hand slamming into Raneem's jaw with such force she lost her footing. As she fell to the sand her mouth filled with blood, the inside of her cheek stinging. "Never lie to me," he growled, taking a step closer to the girl in the sand. He pressed his heel into the hollow of her throat. "Do you honestly think lying about your age will sway me from having you? You're a fool, girl, an utter fool. I am your king, and you are mine to do with as I please. Best remember that. I won't be so forgiving the next time you forget your place." He pressed his heel down harder and Raneem gasped, her hands moving to her throat. Tears blurred her vision and stung her eyes.

After what felt like an eternity, Ganondorf removed his foot from her throat, kicking aside her hands as he did so. "Your lies have soured my mood. Next time, I won't ask. And you can guarantee there will be a next time, and soon. Travel tends to wear me out, and I am often unable to sleep at night. You will be my new Hana, and if you're good and obedient maybe I won't fuck you bloody." He turned and walked away, kicking sand into Raneem's face as he stalked off. She shielded her eyes and rolled to her side, the tears spilling down her cheeks, hot and heavy.


End file.
